Episode 369. Joséphine Baker Revisited (Live Edition)
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Yesterday was a crucial celebration for all US-Americans: Juneteenth. In honor of that event and in continuing observation of Pride 2025, I offer today an episode in honor of the great Joséphine Baker (1906 – 1975). I have been an avid (not to say rabid) Baker fan for more than thirty years, so when she was inducted into the Panthéon in the fall of 2021, I took the opportunity to devote a pair of Countermelody episodes to her. This refurbished episode includes personal reminiscences about my journey on the route to full Bakermania, while the bulk of the musical content consists of possibly the most vibrant extant live recording of Joséphine Baker, which took place on 30 June 1963, the final performance of her month-long engagement at the Tivoli Varietéen in Copenhagen. I’m pretty sure it’s not currently available elsewhere on the interwebs. Joséphine Baker’s magnetism, seductiveness, self-mockery, sauciness, and sincerity are all on full display. Some favorite and/or rare Baker material rounds out the episode, including a pair of Pathé recordings made during the War, when she was an active member of the French Resistance; the soundtrack of an early sound film in which she performs her signature number, “J’ai deux amours”; a recording made in conjunction with her final performance at the Bobino in Paris in 1975 (just before her death); a 1966 live recording from one of her many appearances in Havana; and her final appearance in her native United States at Carnegie Hall on 05 June 1973, in which a laryngitic, nearly voiceless Baker delivers her artistic credo in a riveting performance of “My Way.” The episode begins with a tribute to the late Alfred Brendel.
RECORDINGS HEARD IN THIS EPISODE
Robert Schumann, Heinrich Heine: Am leuchtenden Sommermorgen (Dichterliebe, Op. 48/12) Eberhard Wächter, Alfred Brendel [1962]
Jacques Trenchant, Honoré Trenchant: L’amour est un jeu. Joséphine Baker, Jo Bouillon et son Orchestre [1944]
Jacques Trenchant, Honoré Trenchant: Zoubida [Chanson Mauresque]. Joséphine Baker, Jo Bouillon et son Orchestre [1944]
Joséphine Baker at Tivoli. Joséphine Baker, Otto Lington’s Orchestra [live Copenhagen 30.VI.63]
- Henri Betti, Bruno Coquatrix, André Hornèz: Avec
- Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein II: Make Believe
- Nacio Herb Brown, Arthur Freed: You Are My Lucky Star
- Charles Aznavour, Eddie Barclay: Quand tu m’embrasses
- Tony Renis: Quando quando quando
- Guy Lafarge, Flavien Monod: La Seine
- Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II: Hello, Young Lovers (The King and I)
- Jerome Kern, P.G. Wodehouse, Oscar Hammerstein II: Bill (Show Boat)
- Augusto Alguerro, Leon Arias Rafael: Enamorada
- Nacio Herb Brown, Arthur Freed: I’ve Got a Feeling You’re Fooling
- Joaquín Prieto: La Novia
- Morton Craft, Selma Craft: Je pars [Alone]
Francis Lopez, Daniel Ringold: Paris-Paname [Finale: Joséphine à Bobino 1975]. Joséphine Baker, Orchestra and chorus conducted by Pierre Spiers [1975]
Francis Lopez, Henry Lemarchand: Dans mon village. Joséphine Baker, Tony Taño, Orquestra EGREM [live Havana 27.I.1966]
(the candles at the press conference were because her power had been turned off)
Peter Kreuder: Die Regenbogenkinder. Joséphine Baker, Peter Kreuder [1959]
Claude François, Jacques Revaux, English lyrics by Paul Anka: My Way. Joséphine Baker, Orchestra conducted by Karl Hampton Porter [live Carnegie Hall 05 June 1973]
Vincent Scotto, Géo Koger, Henri Varna: J’ai deux amours. Joséphine Baker [1931 film soundtrack]
